Shoe Upper Material

ABSTRACT

A shoe upper material includes a raw material layer. The raw material layer has a thermoform layer through vacuum thermoforming disposed thereon. The upper surface of the thermoform layer protrudes from the upper surface of the raw material layer. The raw material layer is made of animal leather, artificial leather, or composite leather, with a thickness of 0.4-3.0 mm. A base fabric is disposed below the raw material layer, wherein the thickness of the base fabric is 0.1-2.8 mm; the thermoform layer can be vacuum thermoformed entirely with the upper surface of the raw material layer or be vacuum thermoformed with multiple portions of the upper surface of the raw material layer respectively. The thermoform layer include one of the upper medial, the upper lateral, the toe piece, the tongue piece, and the rear quarter or any combination of more than one.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a shoe upper material, which belongs to the technical field of leather product processing.

2. Description of the Related Art

Nowadays, the leather shoes are essential elements in people's daily work and life, the consumer demands not only beautiful appearance but also substantial durability. In the meantime, if the production cost is low, it will also bring in huge profit for the manufacturer, such that the consumer and the manufacturer are both benefited. The current processing method of the leather shoe is usually to press different shapes and patterns onto the leather raw materials, the raw materials are cut into pieces, and then sewed various portions up. Especially under the situation that the upper shoe pattern is more complex, the invested cost is high, and the production efficiency is low with current labor or equipment production method. In addition, the pattern is usually made by means of embossed mold pressing process, wherein the said embossed mold usually includes a steel wheel, a silicone wheel, and a Nickel wheel etc. The finished product processed by this kind of processing method is limited to produce only ordinary lines, which cannot produce the exquisite embossment. The effect of embossment is common, the line is shallow and unstable, and the emulation quality is poor. As the manufacturing cost of mold is higher and the processing technique is complex, therefore, the cost of the product stays at a high level.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention intends to solve the technical problem, which is aimed at the insufficiency of the current technology to provide a shoe upper material, wherein the processing technique is simple, with one-step shaping, high emulation quality, low cost, and high production efficiency.

The technical scheme of the present invention to solve the foregoing technical problem is achieved through the following embodiment:

A shoe upper material includes a raw material layer and a thermoform layer made through vacuum forming, the thermoform layer is disposed on the raw material layer, wherein the upper surface of the thermoform layer protrudes from the upper surface of the raw material layer; wherein the raw material layer is made of animal leather, artificial leather, or composite leather, with a thickness of 0.4-3.0 mm.

In order to increase the temper of the shoe upper material, a base fabric is disposed below the raw material layer, wherein the thickness of the base fabric is 0.1-2.8 mm.

According to the size of the raw material, the thermoform layer can be vacuum thermoformed entirely with the upper surface of the raw material layer; or the thermoform layer can also be vacuum thermoformed with a plurality of portions of the upper surface of the raw material layer respectively.

Depending on the actual production needs, the thermoform layer can also include one of the upper medial, the upper lateral, the toe piece, the tongue piece, and the rear quarter or any combination of more than one of the above.

In order to make the shoe upper pattern looks more beautiful, the surface of the upper medial and upper lateral has thermoformed at least one pattern area thereon.

When the raw material layer refers to as animal leather, the animal leather includes the calfskin, the sheepskin, or the pigskin.

When the raw material layer refers to as artificial leather, the artificial leather includes the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or the polyurethane (PU).

When the raw material layer refers to as composite leather, the composite leather includes animal leather layer and resin layer, wherein the resin layer is made of polyvinyl chloride, polyurethane, polyethylene (PE), or thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) elastic rubber.

Based on the need, the resin layer is the coating cover on the animal leather via means of extrusion coating; or, the resin layer is the sheet compound with the animal leather via means of rolling; or the resin layer is the coating cover on the animal leather via means of spray coating, brush coating, or roll coating; or the resin layer is the coating cover on the animal leather via means of mesh coating.

In summary, the shoe upper material provided in the present invention, wherein the processing technique is simple, with one-step shaping, high emulation quality, low cost, and high production efficiency.

The technology scheme of the present invention is illustrated in detail with combination of drawings and embodiments below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic drawing of the entire structure of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic drawing of the entire structure of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention provides a shoe upper material. The shoe upper material includes a raw material layer 100 and a thermoform layer 200 made through vacuum forming; wherein the thermoform layer 200 is disposed on the raw material layer 100. The upper surface of the thermoform layer 200 protrudes from the upper surface of the raw material layer 100. The raw material layer 100 is made of animal leather, artificial leather, or composite leather, with a thickness of 0.4-3.0 mm. In order to increase the temper of the shoe upper material, a base fabric (not shown in the drawing) is disposed below the raw material layer 100, wherein the thickness of the base fabric is 0.1-2.8 mm.

When the raw material refers to as animal leather, the animal leather includes the calfskin, the sheepskin, or the pigskin. When the raw material layer 100 refers to as artificial leather, the artificial leather includes the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or the polyurethane (PU). When the raw material layer 100 refers to as composite leather, the composite leather includes the animal leather layer and the resin layer, wherein the resin layer is made of polyvinyl chloride, polyurethane, polyethylene, or thermoplastic polyurethane elastic rubber. Based on what's need, the resin layer is the coating cover on the animal leather via means of extrusion coating; or, the resin layer is the sheet compound with the animal leather via means of rolling; or, the resin layer is the coating cover on the animal leather via means of spray coating, brush coating, or roll coating; or, the resin layer is the coating cover on the animal leather via means of mesh coating.

According to the size of the raw material, the thermoform layer 200 can be vacuum formed entirely with the upper surface of the raw material layer 100; or the thermoform layer 200 can also be vacuum formed with a plurality of portions of the upper surface of the raw material layer 100 respectively. Depending on the actual production needs, the thermoform layer 200 can also include one of the upper medial 201, the upper lateral 202, the toe piece 203, the tongue piece 204, or the rear quarter 205 or any combination of more than one of the above. In other words, a piece of raw material can have only one entire upper medial 201 or upper lateral 202; or as shown in FIG. 1, the thermoform layer 200 is divided into multiple portions, including the upper medial 201, the upper lateral 202, the toe piece 203, the tongue piece 204, or the rear quarter 205 respectively; or for a smaller size of the raw material, it can even only thermoforms multiple tongue piece 204 on single piece of the raw material. The manufacturer can allocate and set rationally under the premise of saving raw material in accordance with the actual need.

In order to make the shoe upper pattern looks more beautiful, the surface of the upper medial 201 and upper lateral 202 has at least one pattern area 210, the at least one pattern area 210 is thermoformed. The pattern area 210 can includes various patterns, for example: a pinhole pattern, a linen pattern, a sheepskin pattern, a calfskin pattern, and a litchi pattern, etc. The patterns or grains on the mold can be one type, or can be multiple types, which can be set according to the need. The multiple patterns or grains can be set on same plan surface, or can be set on different plan surfaces, rugged, in picturesque disorder. This increases the stereoscopic effect and emulation quality of the patterns, with great visual effects. No matter which setup mode of the patterns or grains is adapted, the thermoform layer 200 disposed on the raw material layer 100 is vacuum thermoformed only once, to avoid the cutting, stitching and other processing procedures required in current technology, save time and effort, ease of operation, lower cost, speed up shipment, improve production efficiency substantially.

The processing procedures of the shoe upper material provided in present invention are like this: at first, making a mold. According to the need, the mold can be a ceramic absorbing-plastics mold or a metal mold with ventilation performance. The ceramic absorbing-plastics mold is made of a compound including epoxy resin and quartz sand. Due to the physical property of quartz sand with high porosity by nature, the thermoformed leather raw material is adhered tightly to the surface of the ceramic absorbing-plastics mold during the vacuum thermoforming process, stressed uniformly, and with high emulation quality of the patterns formed onto the thermoform layer 200. The metal mold with ventilation performance is made with drilling micro-pores on the surface, or is made with permeable metal, which is also for achieving the best thermoform result.

Secondly, putting the leather product raw material onto the surface of the mold after the leather product raw material is heated to a specific temperature, and making the leather product raw material stay in a vacuum thermoforming condition, then the pattern corresponding to the surface of the mold is formed onto the surface of the leather product raw material. The specific temperature is 150° C-200° C., and the vacuum thermoforming condition is at vacuum range of 350 mmHg-700 mmHg. In order to accommodate the different production needs, the setting mode of the mold can be a flatbed, wherein the residence time of vacuum thermoforming is 2-10 seconds, or the setting mode of the mold can be a roller, wherein the movement speed of the roller is 10-35 M/m. The setting mode of the mold includes the flatbed or the roller, or both the flatbed and the roller are combined for using. With regard to the manufacturing method of the mold, please refer to the published contents of China patent publication number CN1237763A.

Finally, cooling the leather product raw material, and forming to the leather product for spare.

In summary, the processing technique of the shoe upper material provided in present invention is simple, one-step shaping, the finished product of the shoe upper material does not lose the thickness due to the absorption molding of its working principle. The pattern of the finished product is vivid with high emulation quality. The production cost is low and manufacture efficiency is high, which is quite favored by the market. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A shoe upper material comprising: a raw material layer; and a thermoform layer through vacuum thermoforming disposed on the raw material layer, wherein an upper surface of the thermoform layer protrudes from an upper surface of the raw material layer; wherein the raw material layer is made of an animal leather, an artificial leather, or a composite leather, with a thickness of 0.4-3.0 mm.
 2. The shoe upper material as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a base fabric disposed below the raw material layer, wherein a thickness of the base fabric is 0.1-2.8 mm.
 3. The shoe upper material as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thermoform layer is vacuum thermoformed entirely with the upper surface of the raw material layer.
 4. The shoe upper material as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thermoform layer is vacuum thermoformed with a plurality of portions of the upper surface of the raw material layer respectively.
 5. The shoe upper material as claimed in claim 3, wherein the thermoform layer comprises an upper medial, an upper lateral, a toe piece, a tongue piece, and a rear quarter, or any combination of the upper medial, the upper lateral, the toe piece, the tongue piece, and the rear quarter.
 6. The shoe upper material as claimed in claim 5, wherein the surface of the upper medial and the upper lateral comprise at least one pattern area, the at least one pattern area is thermoformed.
 7. The shoe upper material as claimed in claim 1, wherein the animal leather comprises a calfskin, a sheepskin, or a pigskin.
 8. The shoe upper material as claimed in claim 1, wherein the artificial leather comprises a polyvinyl chloride or a polyurethane.
 9. The shoe upper material as claimed in claim 1, wherein the composite leather comprises an animal leather layer and a resin layer, wherein the resin layer is made of polyvinyl chloride, polyurethane, polyethylene, or thermoplastic polyurethane elastic rubber.
 10. The shoe upper material as claimed in claim 9, wherein the resin layer is a coating cover on the animal leather via means of extrusion coating; or, the resin layer is a sheet compound with the animal leather via means of rolling; or, the resin layer is a coating cover on the animal leather via means of spray coating, brush coating, or roll coating; or, the resin layer is a coating cover on the animal leather via means of mesh coating.
 11. The shoe upper material as claimed in claim 4, wherein the thermoform layer comprises an upper medial, an upper lateral, a toe piece, a tongue piece, and a rear quarter, or any combination of the upper medial, the upper lateral, the toe piece, the tongue piece, and the rear quarter.
 12. The shoe upper material as claimed in claim 11, wherein the surface of the upper medial and the upper lateral comprise at least one pattern area, the at least one pattern area is thermoformed. 